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408: Sine Qua Non
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Survivors: 39674
Air Date: 5/27/08 (in the uk)
Written by: Micheal Taylor
Directed by: Rod Hardy
Katee Sackhoff (Kara "Starbuck" Thrace)
Mary Mc Donnell (Laura Roslin)
Jamie Bamber (Lee "Apollo" Adama)
Tricia Helfer (Number Six)
James Callis (Gaius Baltar)
Grace Park (Sharon "Boomer" Valerii)
Edward James Olmos (William Adama)
Directed by: Rod Hardy
Cast
Katee Sackhoff (Kara "Starbuck" Thrace)
Mary Mc Donnell (Laura Roslin)
Jamie Bamber (Lee "Apollo" Adama)
Tricia Helfer (Number Six)
James Callis (Gaius Baltar)
Grace Park (Sharon "Boomer" Valerii)
Edward James Olmos (William Adama)
Plot Summary
Well after last week's Cylon-centric episode, this week it's all about the Adamas, and we finally get to see what Lee joining the Quorum was all about. We also see the welcome return of one of everyone's favourite characters in the shape of Romo Lampkin--lawyer and cat lover extraordinaire.
As a kind of handover the episode starts with Natalie--Six being rushed to the operating room so that Doc Cottle can attempt to save her life; unfortunately for her Athena seems to have done a better job shooting her than Boomer did on the Old Man and she dies. Her death scene consists of her projecting a woodland canopy above her and interestingly ends with her reaching out for the Doc and him taking her hand as it fades to white. The Old Man and Saul look on as the Doctor works and Adama has Saul take Athena to his quarters so he can dispense punishment.
Intercut with the death scene we see the Quorum thrown into disarray at Roslin's disappearance, with Zarek giving the members a run down of the situation and announcing that he is taking over as president until the emergency is over. Unfortunately, the Admiral won't talk to Zarek and this leads Lee to give his father a call to persuade him otherwise--needless to say it doesn't work.
Athena then gets a dressing down from the Old Man, and is sent to the brig without Hera when Adama doesn't think her "she was going to kidnap my child, I saw it in a vision" excuse for shooting Natalie--Six is good enough. Seems to me that he's willing to believe some visions and not others but then who needs consistency?
Post-Credits we have the Admiral and Saul discussing fleet protection in the wake of half their birds and jocks being on board the base-ship at the time of its jump. We also learn that Starbuck has returned to the position of CAG after her trip on the Demetrius. Due to their limited resources the fleet is forced to bunch up to make protecting it easier.
Back with Lee, he is given a "I made you and look how you repay me" speech from Zarek as he is asking him to step down from the presidency in order to replace him with someone with whom the elder Adama will work. Lee has decided that they need to find someone else and then use the Quorum's emergency powers to put them in the presidency and he goes to the one man he thinks can help him--Romo Lampkin. Lampkin advises Lee "don't take the case councillor, it's a loser" but Lee being Lee he wont be dissuaded and persuades Romo to help him citing the fact that he's been in his room since the Baltar trial and could do with getting out more. Lampkin eventually agrees, but not without warning Lee that sometimes its better to stick with what you have got.
Back on Galactica, the Adama instructs Saul to see if the Cylon prisoner will tell them anything about the Hub, citing the fact that Saul has built up a "relationship" with her as his reason. Needless to say Saul looks suitably worried for a man who is having sex with the enemy. He does however dutifully go down to the holding cell and ask her about it. Six tells him that only the Hybrids can find the Hub ,and then only once the jumps are complete. However, whilst doing so, he lets slip that the president is important to the Old Man, much to Six's interest. Six then asks Saul if he loves her; however Saul sees Ellen asking him (personally I reckon he's projecting) ,but before he can answer. Condition One is set throughout the Ship and he is called away, but he does tell her that the mind games she is playing end here.
Condition One is set as one of the Raptors from the base-ship has jumped into range, Racetrack and Skulls head out to check it out and after Racetrack spacewalks over to it she discovers the body of a dead Pilot, Pike, inside the severely damaged ship. When the Raptor is brought aboard the Galatica the Admiral discovers the copy of Searider Falcon he learnt to the President before she went to the base-ship. The black-box of the Raptor tells them where it originated so Adama recalls the CAP and they jump out there leaving the fleet unguarded.
Meanwhile on Colonial One Lampkin is telling Lee the difficulty of the job he has set himself, pointing out that those who want political power are those least suited to wield it. Their discussion is cut short as Lampkin points out that Galactica is jumping away.
At the co-ordinates the Black-Box gave them, we find a debris field including Sandman's viper but no Sandman and bits of base-ship and resurrection hub. Saul then warns that he is way to close to this and that Roslin's base-ship has been destroyed. Adama seems determined to search the entire debris field and they detail 4 Raptors to continue the search and returns to the fleet.
Needless to say the Quorum is not happy about recent events. especially when the Admiral won;t come to them and explain himself. Adama requisitions both civilian ships to help in the search and all tillium shipments from the refining ship. Lee and Lampkin are discussing candidates for their emergency president; however, the ones most suited do not seem to want it, Lampkin becomes disheartened calling what they are doing an "exercise in futility" and at worst a false clean slate, and he destroys their list forcing Lee to re-write it.
Meanwhile the Admiral is consulting the Doc about how the President missing her treatments will effect her, the Doc informs him that "the sooner you get her back here the better her chances" and that he has found out some interesting information about the Cylon prisoner. Adama meets with Saul in his quarters and informs him that the Six is pregnant and that he knows that Saul is the father. The Admiral really lays into Saul about endangering the fleet due to his weaknesses. Saul retorts that he isn't the one endangering the fleet, Adama is, in his search for the President. Adama then brings up Ellen and the pair of them come to blows. During the fight, as you have probably come to expect by now, Adama's wooden ship is broken which leads to the classic line "Do you now how many times I've had to repair this thing?" and the two of them asking each other what they are going to do about their respective woman trouble.
We then see Athena in the brig humming some form of lullaby (considering the interesting use of music in the show lately, it probably means something).
The Admiral then orders Starbuck to send out the Raptors and civilian ships to begin searching new sectors of space. When Starbucl kwarns him that they do not have the ships or manpower to do this, and that her people will feel like they are being sent on suicide missions, the Admiral points out they aren't being asked and dismisses her. Whilst the Admiral is watching the pilots get ready for launch, Lampkin comes to see him, ostensibly to get him to sign some papers making the captains of the requisitioned ships free of blame should anything bad happen. Of course Lampkin isn't really there to do that[[he's mostly there to point out that the Admiral is "indulging a vain hope at the cost of lives" as he is missing "that is thing which is essential" (the translation of the episode title) and to try to persuade him that Zarek isn't such a bad President.
This leads to Bill admitting to Lee that he can't let Roslin go and has lost his objectivity and that he has decided to relinquish command immediately.
Whilst this is happening Lampkin is talking to his cat, Lance, deciding that they have been going about it the wrong way, instead of looking at people and seeing their faults he should be instead deciding what qualities they want and finding who fits the bill, when he does this there is only one choice... Lee Adama himself. He then heads out to find Lee and explains to him that they have found their candidate, him, and when Lee tells Romo that his name wasn't on the list, Romo says its what Lee "always wanted" and why Lee got him to help in the first place, tell him to "savour his victory" and pullisa gun on him. When Lee seems surprised at this Romo explains that Lee is perfect, he is a beacon of hope to the Colonials and that because they are a dying race, hope is the last thing they need and that they should come to accept their fate. Lee is understandably a little surprised at this and asks Romo why he thinks like this. Romo gives Lee his bag and tells him to open it if he wants to see why, inside is his cat, dead for weeks having been murdered. (This suggests that the cat we have seen throughout the episode isn't real, perhaps Romo is the final Cylon and is projecting? or possibly he's just nuts) Romo obviously has become a little unhinged by the death of his last link to his family and appears to be suffering from survivors guilt. Lee however manages to talk him round, pointing out that if a clean slate is a fallacy, and persuading him to put the gun down, Lampkin much put his past behind him and help him make a difference.
We then see Leeland Joseph Adama being sworn in as the President of the 12 Colonies of Kobol as the Admiral and Zarek look on.
The Admiral then steps down in favour of Saul, against Saul's protestations that last time he did a terrible job. Bill says that Saul is a different man now and that he's ready for the job, after all its not permanent. The Admiral's last orders are for Saul to find Earth and give Hera back to Athena.
As one of his first acts as president, Lee gives Lampkin a dog named Jake, when Lampkin protests that he hates dogs even more than he hates cats Lee describes it as a "perfect gift" and wishes Jake good luck.
Lee and Bill have a discussion about what they are doing next, we discover that Lee has kept Zarek on as his Vice-President and that Bill is going to get in a Raptor and stay behind while the fleet jump away in the hope that Roslin will eventually find the rendezvous. When Lee asks him why he's doing it Bill admits that he "can't live without her". Lee and Starbuck then see him off and he tells them to "keep the light on, I'll be back".
The episode then ends with Athena holding Hera and humming that same lullaby as she paces around the brig and the Admiral settling in to read Searider Falcon in his raptor as the fleet jumps away.
Next Episode: Explosions and more of Sam being a bit nuts
dexgal |
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | |
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| mtlhddoc2 | Misspelled name | 4 | Jul 12 2008, 10:14 AM EDT by nyalathotep | |
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Thread started: Jun 9 2008, 6:43 PM EDT
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Sol is Greek and Roman for the word Sun.
Colonel Tigh's first name is SAUL. :) |
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